Monongahela Pop Festival 2 - A Look Back One Month Later

One of the main reasons I was away from this blog for several months relates directly to the process of getting Monongahela Pop Festival 2 together. The two-night event took place on October 2 and 3 at the Government Center, here in Pittsburgh. I spent a lot of time trying to get the word out and hustling people into attending.

The first Festival happened last year on the same weekend, with that name bestowed on it because I felt like I needed to do something a little more grandiose than just saying that I was throwing a show for my birthday. It snowballed quickly. After talking to my friends in the band Benefits about doing a show in October, I thought it would be cool if Greg Hoy came back to town. (He was preparing to release a new album, Benefits had an album coming out, throw in my birthday and it could be grounds for a happening.) Then I thought it'd be even wilder to ask another Pittsburgh expatriate, Ed Masley, to come back from his current home in Phoenix, AZ and play a show. I figured if he'd play a solo set, that would be cool. But Ed reconvened his group the Frampton Brothers, getting various members to come back from Maryland, California and here. 

With locals the Garment District, Denalis, Bat Radar and my two bands (Pink Gin Marimbas and the Harry Von Zells) added, it happened over two nights. And the second night sold out, something that I've never achieved in all my years of playing.

So I had to do it again. This year, I really shot high, asking some of my favorite musicians of all time to come. And they said yes. 

Friday night started off with a performance by locals Acid Drag. I heard a demo by this band earlier this year and while the sound on it was raw, there was a real hook to what they were doing. In person, they're kind of shoegazey, but the keyboards add some cool textures to the thick sound. It was great having them kick things off because no one else had a sound like theirs all weekend.

I tried to take pictures and videos of every band, but it looks like I only took videos of Creedmoors, who were up next. This band has been talked about a lot on the blog, as they were there for the relaunch of Igor Records, appearing on one side of a split single with Pink Gin Marimbas. This band was freaking amazing - tight, great songs, Joe Tarowsky's voice being raw in a Westerburg way but passionate too, harmonies often from all three of his bandmates. Sad to say this was the band's final show. But they absolutely made it count that night, tearing it up. 

 

Friday's national headliner was no less than 100 Flowers. While the first Monongahela Pop Festival was coming together last year, they were playing in London. So I told John Talley-Jones that Pittsburgh was closer and would they want to play. It took some wrangling, and a few months of suspense while logistics came together, but they got here. 

That band was a huge influence on my music, in terms of the ability to write about wild subject matter, sounding minimal, edgy and catchy all at once, and... well, to put it one way, I played a friend 100 Flowers once and his first reaction was, "He sings like you." 

For a band that is has been around the block for several decades, these three still rocked hard. The set featured a lot of classics (to me) and I got the rush of realizing that I never thought that I would hear these songs played live by the guys who created them. And there they were, right in my own backyard, so to speak. Amazing.

The Urinals, the band's first incarnation, came to town about 10 years ago, but guitarist Kjehl Johansen was not in that lineup. 35 years ago, Kjehl and John both came to town with Trotsky Icepick, a more concurrent fave band for me. So it was a thrill to finally have all three guys here.  

The band was in town for a few days before and after the show, so we got to do some socializing. In the above photo, John Talley-Jones finally got to meet my pal John Young (left). Years ago, John TJ released a 7" EP by the Pundits, which included me and John. The two of them had talked on the phone but never met. (JDY was the one who compared my singing to Mr. 100 Flowers.) 

The next night kicked off with my band, the Harry Von Zells. I think we did well. In fact, we kind of stormed out of the gate on the first song. Felt good.

Next up were the Human Hearts, the group led by another favorite singer and songwriter, Franklin Bruno. The last time Franklin came to town, he played an impromptu set at Sound Cat, the record store owned by the late Karl Hendricks. At that time, the band consisted of just him and drummer Matt Houser. Not they're a full quartet with guitarist Pete Galub and bassist Bob Bannister. 

Franklin first got his name - and his gift for brilliant couplets - out there as a member of Nothing Painted Blue. But the new Human Hearts album Faith & Credit (produced by Mitch Easter) offers ample proof that he still has a wealth of great song ideas in him. Their set that night featured many of them, and a guest appearance (see above) by John Talley-Jones on "A Different City for a Different Life," and an Everly Brothers cover "June is as Cold as December."

The best way to represent Chris Brokaw's solo set is to present a clip of it. Chris is an amazing guitar, who can conjure all sorts of sounds out of his instrument in a way that really has a signature voice. I've seen him a couple times and it always feels spellbinding. Just listen to the tone of his guitar in this set. I love what he does.

Finally, the reason I was able to get Human Hearts and solo Chris Brokaw to play that night too is because Chris and Franklin play with Beth Kaplan, the once and forever bassist of Salem 66, another one of my favorite bands. 

I've seen Beth perform twice since she made a return to the stage last year. Both sets happened at Dromfest this year and last year. The first show was kind of emotional for me, for the same reason that 100 Flowers slayed me the night before: I never thought I'd hear these songs. "Lost and Found," the final song on Salem 66's final album, is already pretty emotional in content. Hearing it? Well, I'm getting misty eyed just thinking about it.

Since making her comeback, Beth has also come up with a new songs as well, and she played them here that night. (Could a new release be on the horizon?) One song started to come undone a little, but everyone got it back together. Then when Matt Houser joined on drums for "Across the Sea" and "Lost and Found," it was perfect. 

During their set, Kjehl leaned over and whispered in my ear, "You did it! You did it!" At that point I was juggling so many things, and panicking at that moment about the show being cut short, that I hadn't really had a chance to step back and think about how the whole festival had actually come off. I was a little disappointed with the turnout, especially on night two, when we could have used a couple dozen more people. I can honestly say that something this wide-ranging will never happen again. But the music was great, everyone was happy and had pulled off a crazy idea. 

I figured I'd thrown in a picture of me during the Harry Von Zells set.